Magnus: Sorry for the delay, but this pandemic is forcing a lot of interruptions on my writing time. It's time for the second event, and I can assure you, this isn't going to go like canon!

Disclaimer: Also, thanks to the current crisis, we are starting to get low on funds and resources. We are now forced to request help from you dear readers, even though you too are probably going through the same things. Please visit our P-A-T-R-E-O-N page for more information. Even a couple of bucks would be invaluable aid in these times.


Cursed Blood

Chapter 26

A sinister harmony.

Reiko Amabuki, third in command of the street gang known as Doremi, watched the UA Sports Festival's First Year first event with a manic grin splitting her face. Along with a large group of her friends, fellow gang members, and customers the violette was enjoying the nationwide entertainment wholeheartedly while chilling under the shade of a pavilion.

"The Overboss is…" Reiko began, taking in the instant replays as the featured back to back of the moment a certain verdanette came from behind and stole first place in the obstacle race, "…an absolute BADASS!"

As the widescreen TV everyone had gathered around cut to commercial, Reiko took a moment to process what they'd just seen, and think back to everything that had happened to her and the gang recently.

When Saki had first returned from the dead, as a super badass zombie no less, she and the rest of the girls had been ecstatic. Then the restored boss had presented the guy that had brought her back. Needless to say, the gang hadn't been impressed.

What they'd seen was a string bean, a mama's boy, a goody-two-shoes too meek to deserve to command their gang let alone their undead boss. While grateful to the verdanette for bringing Saki back to them, the girls had impulsively decided in seconds that the freckled teen wouldn't be accepted into their ranks.

And really, he was just a boy. How worthless would he have been in an all female crew?

But then Saki had lit up like a firecracker and nearly busted their eardrums with her indignant roaring. It hadn't taken long for the blonde to make it incredibly clear that it wasn't up to the gang to decide whether or not the verdanette joined. That hadn't even been the point of him visiting at all.

As it turned out, the cute mama's boy, the string bean with nice manners and a gentle smile? He was an honest to God necromancer.

And according to Saki, her new boss hadn't needed a bunch of worthless, lazy bitches at his command. Having easily retaken the reins of Doremi, the blonde firecracker had then laid down her ultimatum; if anyone wanted to stay in the gang, IF they wanted their family to survive, then they needed to put in the effort and work.

It had been an easy decision for the girls to make.

In the end, the first part of the work itself had sounded absurdly easy; keeping an eye on their new Overboss's dear mother, and keeping her safe, while maintaining a distance to prevent unfounded worry. The girls of Doremi had quickly discovered, however, that Inko Midoriya attracted quite a bit of trouble all on her own without even trying.

Two muggers, a suspiciously well-dressed stalker, and even some blond freak wearing some kind of old school plague mask; each had had to be intercepted and successfully intimidated to leaving their charge alone. Those the girls could handle. But that ashen blonde woman?

She nearly caused them to fail their mission five times in just two days!

And then Mrs. Midoriya had been hospitalized. The girls had taken that extremely hard. Even though it had had nothing to do with them, they still felt like they'd failed.

"Reiko-nee!"

The sudden call snapped Doremi's acting leader from her thoughts. Looking over, the older teen raked a hand through the neon stripes of blue and red in her hair as she took in the tense face of a subordinate sister as she walked up. The violette's calm visage did nothing to dispel the air of danger growing around her.

"We've got some trouble," the younger girl announced when she was finally within distance to not have to shout.

"Police?" Reiko asked, raising an eyebrow. The simple action caused the messenger to flinch.

"N-No…" the brunette hesitantly answered, "Just some assholes that are demanding a discount and won't go away when we tell them no."

Reiko frowned, pissed off in an instant. Who the hell did these bozos think they were?!

Did they not know where the fuck they were?

This was Dagobah Beach.

And it was theirs.

It had come as a surprise, but instead of reprimanding the girls for their perceived failure, the Monday following Mrs. Midoriya's admittance to the hospital their new Overboss had gathered them up and sat them down. In a speech that was entirely too cute and heartwarming, the emerald necromancer had accepted them as capable of being HIS gang, and then had proceeded to reward them with a prize that had blown their minds.

Dagobah Municipal Beach Park was no longer public. Somehow, someway, the sandy junkyard dump had become HIS property. And he'd awarded it to them as Doremi's own turf.

The girls had been understandably flabbergasted. And to make the feat even more ludicrously impressive, the entire act had been legal, backed by a legitimization from the police for 'services rendered.'

The real kicker though had to have been the revelation that as long as the girls kept the beach clean, and didn't commit any felonies like murder, rape, or drug dealing, then they were free to do whatever they wanted inside the bounds of the park. Their turf.

In an instant, Doremi had gone from functionally homeless to having their own turf, and a large one at that. There would be no more filthy alleys, no more condemned buildings about to collapse for them. They wouldn't have to share space with other gangs, delinquents, or other lowlifes and constantly be on guard.

It was theirs, and even the police walked their beats and drove their runs without giving them a second glance.

So blinded by the euphoria of finally having turf to call their own, the members of Doremi had tackled the herculean task of cleaning the beach with wild abandon. Under orders from their Overboss though, the girls did eventually have to calm down enough to be able to separate the piles of trash and junk into waste and recyclables. Procuring a dumptruck was easy enough for the actual trash they found, and what could be salvaged or recycled was dismantled, repurposed, or thrown into the correctly labeled bins.

In under a week's time, Doremi had succeeded in cleaning Dagobah spotless, built some shacks to crash in, and had even laid down the foundations for a proper track to bike race on.

While the girls had celebrated, the Overboss had revealed his real master plan.

Like a true banchō, the verdant necromancer hadn't been about to let his subordinates sit on their asses like chumps. They had to earn their keep. And that meant money. Heading off any worries about becoming a second Akaien before they could even be voiced, their Overboss had ordered the girls to open Dagobah to the public, for a price.

After paying a modest fee, individuals, couples, even families could enter and enjoy the beach like normal. Food and drink could also be bought for an additional fee. And if anyone didn't like it, they could step off and get the fuck out.

Being the kind and generous Overboss he was, the necromancer had even given the girls free reign to decide the scope of fees, rules, and penalties alike. Anyone caught using HIS beach as their own personal dumpster would receive no mercy.

"Unless they're police, there's no discount," Reiko responded flatly, getting a mock salute from the brunette. "You know the rules."

Unfortunately, the new arrivals hadn't felt like waiting at the gate for permission to enter.

"You can't charge us to use a public beach!" A rather fat man shouted, sounding slightly out of breath as he trudged toward the pavilion from the public entrance. The two others who'd followed the trespasser were quick to agree. "We have a right to be here just like anyone else. You want us to call the police?!"

At the threat of police, a woman stretched out on a beach chaise close by Reiko turned and lowered her sunglasses to take in the unfolding scene.

"You want me to deal with this?" The woman asked the violette kindly, gently patting the police cap sitting under her. "I AM an officer after all."

The third in command of the Doremi gang shook her head, eyeing the trio of idiots approaching them.

"Nah, I can deal with these asshats myself," the delinquent replied, standing from the beach chair she'd been sitting in. Turning her back on the television that was still running commercials, Reiko gave a bloodthirsty grin. "I've been itching for a fight anyway. I can't afford to look weak after the Overboss just showed us such badassery!"

Reaching over to dig into her purse, the violette pulled out her trusted length of thick, industrial strength chain. What? She never left home without it.

"And someone's gotta teach these shit eating pigs to learn their place," As she spoke, Reiko drew her hands to the ends of the chain, starting from the middle. As the violette's hands passed each link, the metal bands were set ablaze. "And that's either outta here or as meat in a burger!"

The officer slipped her sunglasses back on, turned back to the widescreen television, and took a sip of her cold beverage while pointedly ignoring whatever was about to happen. After all, once you witnessed a zombie you'd first seen in a cabin of all places unleash an unholy amount of violence in one of the highest courtrooms in Japan, what were the screams of horror and panic from a couple of entitled jackasses?

She was off-duty anyway.

Unassuming Upscale Apartment, Too Close to Akaien…

Sitting on an extremely comfortable couch, a black haired man of a rather unremarkably bland appearance enjoyed the first of his two days of paid leave. He'd earned this recent length of respite thanks to his own hard work and the help of a certain verdanette. Of course, with today being the opening of UA's Sports Festival, and the day the First Years performed, there was only one thing on the enormous television mounted on the wall in front of him.

"THATTA BOY MIDORIYA!" Naomasa Tsukauchi cheered joyfully as he watched the young hero-in-training he'd gotten to know so well cross the finish line in first place for the obstacle race. "Maybe that'll teach those idiots that it's not just the Quirk that counts!"

Far away from the expectations and restrictions of his job and peers, Naomasa was finally able to fully relax and be himself; express his feelings and desires without fear of repercussion. One such feeling was the man's appreciation for the young Midoriya. If he were a jealous man, the off-duty detective knew he'd be envious of the verdanette's mother for having such a great kid.

Another benefit of being on vacation Naomasa loved to enjoy?

He could trapeze around in nothing but his boxers and no one would complain!

"Oh my," purred a seductive and feminine voice with an unseen grin from behind the off-duty detective. A pair of flawlessly sexy arms wrapped around his shoulders from the back of the couch, "Tell us how you really feel Masa-sama."

Silky caramel locks still free from their customary heart-shaped knot delicately fell around the left side of Naomasa's head as the owner of the voice rested her head on his broad shoulder. Without hesitation, the off-duty took a deep breath, inhaling the irresistible scent of pleasure that emanated from the waves of chestnut hair.

"He…" Naomasa started, pausing a moment to appreciate Midoriya celebrating while surrounded by his close friends, "Has the markings of a true Hero in the making. The kind of Hero I'd always wanted to be…"

The head on his shoulder and its aromatic hair retreated, leaving the off-duty detective with a distinct feeling of loneliness. Quiet steps assuaged his soul, however, as the woman who'd just teased him moved from her spot to circle the couch, revealing she was only wearing a bathrobe—his—and maybe the lower half of a pair of lingerie.

Sensually swaying her hips, the fragrant woman glided forward until she was in front of Naomasa… before giggling as she gracefully sat herself on his lap, straddling the man.

"But you are a hero Masa-sama," the woman said playfully as she leaned into her seat's bare chest, caressing the familiar muscles she found there. Strong arms came up to wrap around her slender figure, "You're my Hero."

The declaration was quickly followed by a kiss, which quickly escalated as both participants basked in the other's warmth and scent.

"I love you," the woman declared tenderly as the two pulled away, desperate for oxygen, "My Masa-sama."

"And I love you too…" Naomasa returned, matching the love and want he saw in the chocolate eyes gazing up at him, "…Yugiri."

Time stopped, suspended by the raw emotion flowing around, through, and between the two lovers. Nothing else existed for them except the other. Suddenly, Naomasa tightened his grip on the beautiful woman in his arms, his face turning serious.

"Yu-hime… please… we can stop pretending…" the off-duty detective's voice started strong, yet wavered near the end. He brought up a hand to caress a rosy cheek of his beloved. "Let's get mar—"

A single, delicate finger snapped out and planted itself on Naomasa's lips.

"Don't. I can't… Y—You know we can't…" Yugiri replied, looking down in abject regret. There was not an ounce of true rejection in those spoken words, only sorrow. Naomasa felt a tear drip onto his chest. "The world needs men like you, and no one would trust a detective who was married to a whore."

Yugiri took a deep breath, centered her breaking emotions, and looked back into the eyes of the man who owned her heart. She ignored his disapproving frown at her self-abusive description. It was the truth as far as she saw it.

There was no evidence the experienced Naomasa could see that his beloved had just been on the cusp of crying.

"Besides, someone needs to care for The Garden," the beautiful brunette continued, pushing away the duo's dreams with the cold hand of pragmatism, "Those girls need the guidance of the only mother figure they know that truly loves them… and the protection of the only father they could ever trust."

Feeling an odd mix of melancholy and pride, Naomasa dropped the subject.

His beloved was right, as usual.

The man known as Naomasa Tsukauchi wasn't just a top detective. He was also a liaison between the UN and Japan, the Hero Association and the Police Force, and an invisible sentinel that helped those downtrodden by society to receive Justice.

And she was no whore dammit. She was the Mistress of a questionably legal establishment that provided arranged dates and companions for people of any and all social levels, a collector of broken girls who'd been abandoned, abused, or discarded. She took these young women in, transformed them, educated them, healed them, turned them into forces of nature that could take the reins of the lives into their own hands and move on.

She was also the Police Force's best informant this side of Tokyo.

It wasn't a perfect system by any means, but whenever Naomasa was involved in certain cases and ended up finding young girls or women in certain situations, he'd offer to take them away. Almost every one had accepted. In fact, the off-duty detective was the one who'd brought most of the girls currently working at The Garden to Yugiri.

Unfortunately, the healing process was never as cut and dry as one hoped. It took years for many of the girls to get a handle on what they'd been through, let alone overcome their traumas, and often times they grew too old for orphanages or conventional adoption by the time they were ready to return to society at large. Which was, of course, just fine too.

Yugiri would never turn out one of her girls, baring truly heinous behavior, back into the dark underbelly of society. This led to many staying on at The Garden permanently, or as permanently as they wanted it to be until they decided they were ready to move on. The girls all ended up loving their 'mother,' 'the madam,' 'mistress,' or whatever other name they'd come up with to describe the woman who'd taken in so completely.

And all of them saw him as their savior too, the only man they'd ever been able to rely on, to trust.

They called him 'papa,' and Naomasa wouldn't ever lie and say that didn't warm him to the bottom of his heart.

"Look Masa-sama," Yugiri whispered gently into Naomasa's ear, breaking him from his introspection with a shiver, "The next event is about to start."

Without warning, Yugiri shifted lasciviously atop the off-duty detective's lap until she was facing the television. Leaning back, the beautiful brunette rested against Naomasa's solid chest, grinning mischievously as she felt something else solid become trapped between her thighs.

Naomasa swallowed thickly as he realized his hard on had just been discovered. He'd been doing so well at keeping it hidden this time too.

Still facing away from him, Yugiri straightened her legs and stood up.

"Let's see what else young Midoriya can do, yes?" Caramel locks brushed Naomasa's nose, and out of habit he took a deep breath. Immediately the off-duty detective let that breath explode out in a wordless grunt as he felt the woman who held his heart elegantly grab his manhood, tease her lingerie to the side, and impale herself upon him as she sat back down. "Ahh… Make sure you pay attention… haaa… my Masa-sama."

Tight.

Thrill.

Warm.

Home.

Sparks.

Wet.

Love.

Naomasa could hardly concentrate enough to string more than two words together, his mind and body rebelling in the face of the absolute pleasure his beloved was sharing with him. A stream of electric fire was shooting up and down his spine and through his limbs, his very being curling around the center of his world. The gasps he'd caught from the woman in his arms was all the off-duty detective needed to know Yugiri was feeling just as good, if not even better, than he was.

Hips instinctively jerking in sync, the two lovers gasped and groaned, pressing as tightly together as possible. Naomasa nodded belatedly, agreeing with whatever his beloved had said as he reached out and engulfed the woman in his arms. One hand rose up, grasping and fondling Yugiri's large breasts in equal measure. The other adventured down, found the button atop where they were connected, and began to sensual stimulate it.

The apartment was soon be filled with moaning, gasps, whines, cries of ecstasy and more, all harmonizing with the now mostly ignored second event of the UA Sports Festival as it unfolded.

Off to the side of the enraptured couple, on a side table long forgotten, sat a roll of yen notes, untouched. This had once been payment for services rendered, a single weekend of playing husband and wife.

The money had been left there since the first day Naomasa had ever hired Yugiri, and had remained untouched for years afterward.

UA's Sports Festival Stadium, Contestant Arena…

Victory.

First Place.

That's what Izuku Midoriya had earned, even though it hadn't been his objective in the first event. He'd only intended to piss off the Board and UA's bigoted sponsors, while showing just how capable he and his friends were. But here he was.

Victorious.

"WHAT AN UPSET! WHAT AN UNEXPECTED FINISH!" Present Mic screamed from the speakers, the blond hero's excitement stirring the stadium crowd into hysterical applause. "AFTER BEING KNOCKED OUT OF THE AIR BY HIS CLASSMATE TODOROKI, UA'S VERY OWN NECROMANCER MANAGED TO COME FROM BEHIND AND STEAL FIRST—!"

SLAP!

The reverberating sound of something—or someone—being hit by something cut through the sound system. Present Mic cut off, suddenly yelping.

"He didn't steal anything," corrected the graveled voice of Eraserhead, the underground hero reprimanding, "He earned it."

Inside their press box, away from the prying eyes of the civilians, the two longtime friends stared each other down. Aizawa held a large paper fan, folded, resting where he'd slammed it against their booth's desk. Present Mic, arms akimbo, slowly shifted back into sitting in his chair properly, the blond wiping away a straw bead of sweat when he realized his friend wasn't going to go any further.

The Voice Hero huffed, crossing his arms petulantly. The way he saw it, the green bean hadn't exactly worked for his win, hadn't really suffered for it like other students of his had. He'd taken charge in the first obstacle, sure, but after that he'd literally had an easy ride over the second and third stages.

But, rules were rules, and Midoriya had broken exactly none of them.

Back down in the stadium's arena, said verdanette could be found completely ignoring the jumbotron-sized board showcasing the first event's final placements, with his face at the top. Instead, the young hero-in-training was watching his friends and girlfriend as they finally arrived and jogged toward him. The group of three hadn't made it in after Todoroki, third and fourth place going to the unorthodox team of Iida and Uraraka instead, but his loved ones were still all smiles.

"Hell yeah!" Kyouka shouted, still coming down from her racing high, "You did it!"

Fumikage followed closely behind the punk rock teen, eyes locked on one of his raised hands. It may or may not have been the same hand Kyouka had grabbed while their team had been piloting the hovercraft.

"Thanks to you guys!" Izuku shot back, just in time to brace for impact with an adorable frog girl as she rocketed into him.

"Kero!" Tsuyu croaked happily as her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her. A cute smile, with her tongue poking out from between her lips, spread across the amphibian teen's normally blank face.

Izuku chuckled, his heart filling with love for the girl in his arms. What he wouldn't give to go back in time and tell that sad little boy he'd once been that one day he'd have someone like Tsuyu in his corner. Maybe then he wouldn't be the slowly recovering mess he was today.

"I just hope next time I get a little warning before being yeeted like that," Izuku joked, nodding appreciatively at Fumikage.

The verdanette frowned when he saw his avian-headed friend flinch back at the playful comment.

"Forgive me," Fumikage begged, head bowed toward Izuku in supplication. The normally composed teen seemed to struggle with finding the proper words. "The spirit of our revelry was too passionate. I succumbed to its enticements and acted in thoughtless haste. I apolo—"

"Fumikage."

The raven-headed teen snapped up, locking eyes with the friend who's life he might've endangered. The friend who was… smiling?

"Don't worry about it," Izuku said, waving a hand dismissively, "Just warn me next time so we can do it better."

Fumikage blinked in surprise, finally understanding that not only was his friend not angry with him at all, but he was also open to implementing his thoughtless act as a legitimate tactic in the future. His time to wallow in shock came to a swift end though, courtesy of a not so subtle elbow to the sides at the hands of a winking Kyouka. The avian teen felt his stomach flutter, and for once he didn't think it was Dark Shadow getting comfortable.

"Of course my friend!" Fumikage eventually proclaimed once he'd gathered himself, once more serious and overly dramatic. Not for the first time he was glad no one could see his face under his feathers. "It will be a true revelry of the dark! A tactical strike—from the abyss!"

A moment of silenced passed…

The four friends burst into loud, cheerful laughter, tinged with only slight hysterical disbelief.

Because honestly, they couldn't believe it. They'd placed so high, higher than they'd ever thought they could or would, and there'd been no reprimands as of yet. It was only now sinking in that while their teamwork had been completely unexpected, it really hadn't broken any rules whatsoever.

"And here come our last few contenders…"

With the placement board nearly full, Present Mic's slightly subdued announcement really wasn't needed, but it did succeed in drawing everyone's attention back to the final stretch of the obstacle race. The last students entered, gasping for breath and nearly stumbling as they ran.

Momo Yaoyorozu, winded due to the rigors of the test, kept her fuzzing gaze down as she crossed the finish line. The class president was beyond disappointed with her performance; she was by no means a slouch, or out of shape, but…

The ravenette slowed to a stop, bending over and breathing deeply to avoid passing out. After using her Quirk to create what amounted to a Zero-Pointer buster rifle and the required shells to fire with, the mature teen had refused to admit she'd gone overboard and had left herself below optimal levels.

Maintaining a Quirk like 'Creation' took effort, and Momo had spent years experimenting to find the perfect ratio of muscle to fat that pushed it to its limits. Unfortunately, that had left her with a body unaccustomed to long periods of intensive exercise, like running, after heavy Quirk-use.

Had she been less tired, or less focused on her Lily-deprivation, the class president of Class 1-A might've remembered she had the power to create alternative modes of transportation… like a bicycle. But she wasn't, and she didn't.

Yuga Aoyama, unfortunately for the poor half-Japanese half-French teen, crossed the finish line dead last, by a large margin. The blond appeared to be sick, nearly dragging his feet as he clenched his arms tightly over his stomach. Overuse of his Quirk had been his undoing, and for his troubles he suffered the mocking laughter and jeers of an uncaring audience as punishment.

Izuku had to bite his lip to stop from making a scene. What right did these people have to make fun of a student giving it their all?

"Well alright everybody!" Midnight's amplified voice quickly drew the attention of the stadium to the heroine, who was once again standing on her podium. "Now that everyone's arrived, let's hand out some points!"

From the stands came a roar of approval that could be felt as a physical force, rattling ribcages and straining eardrums. On the field, the gathered students tensed in anticipation.

Every year, UA changed the Sports Festival in many ways, both aesthetically and technically. The concept of points being awarded after an event was nothing new, but the real problem was the complete randomosity employed in regards to their use, importance, or even what decided how many a competitor started with for the next event.

"This year, points will be awarded on a sliding scale according to the placement of the first forty-two finishers," Midnight announced with a flourish of her ever-present flog-like whip. Up above, the jumbo-sized placement board shifted every competitor's profile picture to the left, a spinning set of numbers popping into existence to their right. "Starting with last place… five points!"

Aoyama whimpered from his place at the side of the gathered students as the whirling numbers next to his name went from three mystery digits to a dismal '005.'

"From there, each competitor will get an additional five points per placement!" As the R-Rated Heroine continued speaking, more numbers appeared on the board. Momo shook her head in shame as '010' dropped next to her name. Above her, the class president saw someone named Hitoshi Shinso get awarded '015.'

One by one, the competitors saw their scores. However, they knew they weren't out of the woods yet. What did these points mean in regards to the second round? When they were allowed to start? Who was more important? Odds against events?

"And in first place…!" Midnight teased, voice raised to be heard over the crazed audience even amplified as it was, "Is Izuku Midoriya, who's awarded—"

"Ten million points?"

In the absolute silence that suddenly engulfed the stadium, the verdanette's stunned words almost echoed. Izuku failed to hear Tsuyu's reassurances, or the supportive words of his friends. His mind had kicked into high gear in an instant, before he could stop it.

The world was ringing in his ears.

Silent.

Buzzing.

Quiet.

Mute but screaming—

"IZU-KUN!"

Izuku snapped back to reality. Somehow Tsuyu had gotten in front of him, and his head was between her hands in a gentle grip. Behind him stood Fumikage and Kyouka, the two both placing a hand on his trembling shoulders. Now grounded, the verdanette tried to shake off whatever had just happened, mind immediately compartmentalizing the experience away as it turned to cranking out possible scenarios for what was coming next.

While Izuku and his group huddled together, Todoroki found himself dropping into despair. His score of '205' had turned red and was dropping, digit by digit.

It was already at '197.'

'196'

While the heterochromatic said nothing, Midnight was easily able to perceive the anger and frustration rippling through the scarred teen.

'195'

It was only natural, she supposed.

'194'

The son of Endeavor had already failed to come in first, and now he was realizing he would actually be punished for his actions.

'193'

By now, others who had been watching the board had begun to notice that Todoroki's score was going down.

'192'

The booing and cries of outrage began when it looked like the drop, while slowing, wouldn't stop anytime soon. Apparently Todoroki had quite a few fans in the audience. Or perhaps, his father did.

'191'

"Quiet!" Midnight boomed, silencing all but the most ardent hecklers in an instant. The R-Rated Heroine glared into the drone that had positioned itself nearest her face. "It was made perfectly clear from the beginning that attacking other competitors in the first event was completely forbidden."

Izuku blinked, exchanging glances with his friends and girlfriend. He honestly hadn't thought UA would carry through with that threat when it came to a student like Todoroki. How often did the connected and powerful get held to the same rules as everyone else?

Midnight sneered at the drone's camera, nearly growling at the looks of malcontent she could see from the stands.

"We were lucky no one was seriously hurt due to Todoroki-san's actions," the 18+ Only Heroine spat, glowering at any civilian who dared look her in the eye from her podium. Needless to say, any man or woman unlucky enough to make eye contact was instantly cowed. "Heroes abide by the rules. Naughty little boys and girls who don't…"

Midnight turned to Todoroki, who'd finally turned away from the board to stare blankly at the pro heroine. The ravenette gave a savage grin, the heterochromatic teen gulped on instinct.

"…Are NOT HEROES!"

The pro heroes in the audience, at least those who deserved the title, clapped, whistled, and cheered. The smarter civilians did too, the ones who'd had to deal with the ramifications of what happened when those with powers didn't care about who got hurt as long as they got their way.

Seeing that she'd made her point, and anyone still upset with Todoroki's punishment wasn't going to be stupid enough to do anything about it, Midnight snapped her whip toward the board. All eyes returned to the jumbo-sized display.

'180'

Gasps rang out. With Izuku sitting at the top with ten million, Iida and Uraraka sharing their score of '200,' and Tsuyu, Fumikage, and Kyouka following right with '195,' '190,' and '185' respectively, Todoroki had fallen to sixth. The heterochromatic teen clenched his fists at the revelation of his new position.

"And now, on to the second event!" Midnight announced, glad to finally get the show on the road. "What could it possibly be?!"

The R-Rated Heroine posed as the holographic roulette wheel kicked off. Watching the display closely, the ravenette frowned. The spin-dial was still moving faster than she'd ever seen it go. It was slower than it'd been for the first event, but only just.

Something smelled, and with a Quirk like 'Somnambulist,' Midnight had learned to trust her nose.

The holograph froze.

"And it looks like we're having a 'Cavalry Battle!'" Midnight declared, somewhat redundantly, as the display exploded in a rain of virtual confetti. The spin-dial dissolved into a clip of All Might riding on top of the linked arms of three other pro heroes. "For this event, you'll form teams of two to four—"

Izuku scoffed. Oh, now the powers that be wanted them to work together? How convenient since they'd just been expected to race against each other like their lives depended on it. Tsuyu tugged on the verdanette's arm, and he turned his attention back to their teacher.

"—the rider, and the remaining will be the horses! But don't ride your teammates too hard now," the 18+ Only Heroine purred, licking her lips as she eyed the students looking up at her. Many of the males shivered, though from fear or nascent desire who could say? "Because teams that fall apart will be disqualified! Same goes if the rider touches the ground for any reason."

As Midnight continued explaining, Izuku felt the gazes of many of those around him turn his way. Having the highest number of points could be good or bad for him, the green-haired teen supposed. It could give his team a boost of some sort, an earlier start, or even more chances to 'battle' or whatever. Just as long as the point of the event wasn't—

"The goal is to gather the points competitors won from the first round," Midnight said, waving at the jumbo-sized board above them all. Izuku swallowed thickly. Not good. "Headbands marked with each team's total will be worn by the riders. Anyone can take the bands from other teams, but riders must wear their spoils as soon as possible. Show off for us won't you?"

The ravenette continued to explain the second event, but Izuku just shook his head faintly as he took the information in, a stone growing in his stomach. What the hell was the Board thinking?! Stealing from others to advance themselves? How the fuck was that heroic at all? That was literally the exact opposite of what heroes should do.

Sure, the event would showcase teamwork, and how the hero-hopefuls could synergize with Quirks they may or may not be familiar with, but come on! There had to be a better way?

The verdanette turned to look at his girlfriend and steadfast friends. Tsuyu gave a resolute nod. She had his back. Fumikage crossed his arms as he gave a small grin and nod as well. Kyouka snorted, pressing a finger to her chin in mock consideration before giving a lopsided smile and a thumbs up. And so it was decided.

The team would stand together. Through adversity and strife, they would remain strong.

Expectations be damned.

"Okay then!" Midnight called out, "I think that's everything. Let's get those teams made everyone. And remember. Play nice. No one has to join your team if they don't want to. GO!"

Once they were given the go ahead, Izuku and his group instantly moved to huddle together.

"IZUCHI! IZUCHI!"

Too quick for the verdanette in question to react, a pink missile slammed into his back, wrapping around one of his arms like a koala.

"Do you have room for another teammate?!" Mei Hatsume shouted, as enthusiastic as usual. Tsuyu frowned at the sight of her boyfriend being manhandled, but kept herself from growling. "Come on! Come on! Come on! Pretty please?!"

Izuku looked down awkwardly at the pinkette wrapped around his arm, at the innocently manic grin directed at him, and truly felt bad for what he was about to do. It wasn't that he didn't like Hatsume, it was just…

"I'm sorry Hatsume-san," the young hero-in-training apologized, scratching the back of his head hesitantly, "But I already teamed up with these guys. I'm really sorry."

Mei blinked rapidly, mind clearly attempting to process the gentle rejection. The crosshairs in the pinkette's golden eyes constricted and slackened, her Quirk misfiring as her mind was faced with an unexpected development that—oddly—caused her chest to hurt a little.

"W-w-what?" Mei stammered, at a sudden loss of what to do and numbly dropping from the arm she'd held captive. "B-b-b-b-but I have everything you could ever need or want right here! Hover-boots, grappling hooks, shield generators, and that's not even half of it!"

The young inventor was not panicking. Panicking led to accidents in the lab and explosions. But as she listed every gadget and gizmo she'd managed to cram into her backpack and work belt, the pinkette couldn't help the sinking feeling in her stomach. She hadn't realized how much she'd counted on her partnership with Izuchi to pull through here. And now that it'd failed her…

Why would anyone pay attention to her if she wasn't on the team with the most points? She wouldn't be able to catch the eye of any of the big support companies if she were on her own! Everyone would ignore her, and her babies, and then she'd have wasted a whole Sports Festival. And as a failure she'd have to quit the Support Course, and then go back home and be ignored some more, and then be alone with none of her babies, and then—

A warm hand landed on Mei's shoulder, returning the pinkette to reality and halting her rambling. Looking up, the young inventor saw a somewhat blurry Izuchi looking back at her with worry in his emerald eyes. Why was the world all blurry? She had perfect vision. Was it raining all of a sudden?

"It's not that I don't think your… babies… would be helpful Hatsume-san," Izuku said, smiling encouragingly. The verdanette gestured around to his teammates, visage hardening with unbreakable determination. "It's just that our team isn't planning on moving an inch during the second round. If you partnered with us, no one would get to see your wonderful inventions at work."

Mei gave into the powerful urge to sniffle, breathing in deeply as her insides settled with the new information she'd been given. An uncharacteristically sad look warped the pinkette's face for an instant, before disappearing as a familiar manic smile returned full force.

"You know, you're the best client a girl could ask for," Mei said softly, almost too quiet for Izuku to hear. The rosy inventor turned to leave, looking back only once to throw a few parting words. "Make sure you come by the lab after the festival okay? I've got some awesome new ideas for your suit!"

Izuku waved goodbye to the pinkette as she dived back into the chattering crowd of competitors who hadn't made teams yet. A poke in the ribs made the verdanette jerk in surprise only to find a pouting Tsuyu the culprit.

"So… what was that about not moving an inch?" Kyouka asked, hoping to break the staring contest between the two lovebirds. The punk rocker wasn't worried about the outcome of the second event per say, she was just curious what her genius of a friend had come up with now. "Pulling the curtain on all the rigged shit, or do you have a plan?"

Tsuyu and Fumikage glanced at the verdant cinnamon roll with matching inquisitiveness. Izuku only smiled, more innocent than ever.

"Obviously, we're sitting in first place," the green-haired teen began, receiving affirmative nods from his team. "No doubt the bozos up top thought Todoroki-san would win no matter what. But now that the points are ours, we don't need to put ourselves in danger, or endanger anybody else. So… let's go full defensive instead."

From a certain angle, the move made sense. But it wasn't the explanation the other three had been looking for.

"But…" Fumikage chanced, cutting out the dramatic speech, "Wouldn't that mean moving more to avoid confrontation?"

Izuku shook his head, more than happy to show his friends how he planned to turn another event on its head.

"Fumikage, could you please call out Dark Shadow for a second?" the verdanette asked.

Without any outward sign of being summoned, the Eldritch Quirk entity slithered out from under Fumikage's shirt. The darker-than-black tear that signified Dark Shadow's mouth ripped upward at both corners as the sentient Quirk cheerfully greeted the young necromancer while wrapping around its host.

"Kyouka-chan, could you step closer please?" Izuku then asked, quickly turning to add another request, "Um… I need to touch one of your jacks… b-but only if you're fine with it."

The punk rocker couldn't fight the slight flush that came at her team leader's words. Hoping that the others would take it as embarrassment at being asked such an intimate question in public, and not for getting so close to the boy she'd crushed on for years, the musician almost failed to hide an awkward smile.

With as much care as possible, Izuku gently took one of Kyouka's jacks between two fingers. The feeling of warmth that instantly flooded the appendage nearly forced a full on blush out of the punk rock girl. Thankfully, keeping her eyes on Fumikage's face, which was locked on her captured jack with laser-like focus, helped Kyouka overcome the girly impulses.

Dark Shadow, much to the dismay of Fumikage's edgy reputation, easily accepted a head pat from his fellow master of darkness. The avian teen then watched as the young necromancer jabbed the held jack into his Quirk's shadowy chest.

The resulting squeak of surprise was too adorable to not chuckle at.

As Kyouka's heartbeat was fed through her Quirk and infused into the sentient Quirk's body, something happened. Dark Shadow's… skin… began to ripple.

"I feel… strange," Dark Shadow reported, raising an undulating arm up for closer inspection. "It's like… I can feel the sun, but not."

That entirely unhelpful account only confused the trio of Fumikage, Kyouka, and Tsuyu more.

"Light is composed of photons," Izuku began to explain, patting Dark Shadow again and causing the sentient Quirk to ripple like living tar. "And photons vibrate at a certain frequency. If we can guess the correct antiphase frequency, Kyouka should be able to essentially shield Dark Shadow from sunlight while out in the open."

Kyouka and Fumikage exchanged glances, surprised that their Quirks could interact at such level. Or that Izuku could look like such a mad scientist.

"It'll require a really high frequency though," Izuku confessed, brow furrowing in worry, "Do you think you can pull it off? Continuously?"

The question caused the subject in question to adopt a pensive look.

"That'd mean increasing my pulse to a crazy high level…" Kyouka murmured, eyes darting as she thought hard on whether or not it was possible for her. "Maybe?"

In an act completely out of character for the resident edgelord, Fumikage suddenly took advantage of the closeness the group's huddle afforded him and lightly poked Kyouka in the… surprisingly muscular stomach. The startled yelp the dark violette let out sounded oh so delightful to the raven-headed teen.

The rippleing across Dark Shadow's skin intensified.

"I-I guess I can," Kyouka replied, more concerned with not blushing than glaring at the culprit who'd made her 'kya.'

"I know you can," Fumikage stated firmly.

Ten Minutes Later…

All teams had assembled, and team captains—those who stood out most in each group—were beginning to mount their horses. Most groups were comprised of four competitors, allowing the captains on top to ride three horses for the highest level of stability. There were teams of three here and there, but those only involved competitors who couldn't talk the few teams of two into separating and joining them.

"Hagakure-san…" Mezo Shouji's soothing voice called to the floating UA PE uniform resting atop his wide back, "Shouldn't we have tried to get more members?"

The gentle giant was, unknown to those around him, beginning to get worried for the girl he'd partnered with. At first, everything had been fine; he'd offered her an ear or three to talk to, shoulders to cry on, and she'd begun to open up to him about her USJ trauma. He'd thought he was doing a good thing, helping her recover and return to the person she'd been. But lately…

"But no one wanted us!" Toru replied, chipper voice far from exuberant as it'd been at the beginning of the semester, but not as deadened as it had been recently. "Besides, everything will be fine as long as we're together."

That. That right there. More and more in the last couple days, Hagakure would slip little comments like that into their conversations. It was almost like she was becoming dependent on him. Mezo didn't know what to do, but if he didn't find an answer soon, the gentle giant feared his classmate would irreversibly change into something frightening.

Besides, the 'Dupli-Arms'-user was no fool, he knew Hagakure's attempts to remain close to him couldn't be real affection. He was a… well, in any case, he hadn't done anything to earn such ardor from a girl like her.

"I just don't understand it," Momo mumbled to herself as she climbed atop her horse, eyeing a team that two of her classmates had joined, "Why would those two do something like that?"

Originally, the 'Creation'-user had planned to team up with Mina and Kirishima, both to keep the two from doing anything foolish while unsupervised together, and as a way to ensure all three of them made it to the third event under her leadership. But when the ravenette had eventually found the duo, they and a beastly giant of a fellow from Class 1-B had already partnered up with a purple-haired student with large bags under his eyes.

And as she continued to watch, Momo couldn't help but think all three were acting strangely even now.

"Don't worry about it!" shouted the pinkette supporting the class president from below. Mei Hatsume had come out of nowhere, that was for sure, but Momo was fairly sure the inventor was one of the best possible partners that could've found her. Now sporting four mechanical spider-like limbs from her combat harness, the other girl was carrying the Yaoyorozu heiress on her shoulders like she weighed nothing.

It almost seemed unfair.

"Besides," Mei laughed, "It's their loss for not wanting to be on the team with the sharpest minds at UA!"

The moment the young inventor had learned that Momo's Quirk allowed her to reproduce objects and raw materials at will, she'd suggested creating additional pieces for her gear that she'd been unable to carry with her at the start of the festival. The ravenette had been hesitant, but after some thought supposed it would be considered legal since the parts would be the result of pure Quirk usage.

"And that's it for prep time everyone!" Midnight cheerfully announced, swinging her whip high above her head, "Now let's review the ru…"

The 18+ Only Heroine's words trailed off, as she and practically every spectator of the Sports Festival froze in stupefied shock. They really couldn't help but stare at—

"Th-this—this isn't how I wanted to stand out!"

From atop her three horses, Kyouka Jiro sat embarrassed beyond all belief, arms flailing and face beet red. The musician had rebelliously tied the team's headband of ludicrous points around her neck like a loose scarf, the red numbers painting a bloodthirsty grin across her throat.

"Why isn't Izuku up here?" Kyouka shouted again, asking the question everyone watching wanted to know, "He's the captain! Why isn't he the rider?!"

The punk rock girl had a point. Every other team had put their highest profile member as their rider. Todoroki sat over a team of Iida, Ochako, and a determined Ojiro. Momo was perched on Mei's shoulders while the pinkette was supported by her equipment. Itsuka of Class 1-B was being carried by the vines of Shiozaki and protected by the living shield that was Tetsutetsu.

Everyone had expected the "Monster of UA" to claim a spot at the top. Why wouldn't such a notorious figure seat himself high for all the world to see?

But he hadn't.

Midoriya stood proudly as a horse, and not even the front horse of his team either. Standing side-by-side with his girlfriend Tsuyu, the green duo took a rear guard behind the party's advance defender Tokoyami.

"I'm actually heavier than I look," Izuku murmured to his team so only they would hear. "Also, this will make it easier for you to make your connection."

The verdanette wasn't wrong. Or lying. Since the start of Cursed Blood's progression, he'd gained weight due to a subtle increase in the density of his bones and muscle mass.

The fact that his actions once again upended tradition and stuck it to the Board and UA's sponsors was just a sweet bonus.

"Besides," Izuku continued, patting the thigh of the musician that rested on his shoulder, "The public will love looking at you more than me."

Kyouka blushed even harder, almost steaming.

"Tsu-chan!" Kyouka cried, desperate for some support from her female friend, "Are you just going to let him flirt with me like that?"

Tsuyu raised a finger to her lips in thought, her amphibious tongue poking out just a bit. A small grin bloomed through the frog-girl's normally impassive face.

"Well…" Tsuyu said, looking back at the distressed musician, "You are pretty cute, kero."

Kyouka flailed again, bopping Fumikage's head a number of times to get the avian teen's attention and support. The punk rocker had never expected to ever receive compliments for her looks, especially not from her former crush, or said former crush's girlfriend…

Fumikage, somehow, managed to turn his head around enough to make eye contact with the dark violette.

"I beseech thee, dark maiden," the raven-headed teen spoke in an uncharacteristically suave voice, "Entreat me not to gaze upon you now. Your beauty wouldst surely blind mine eyes, and presently we must focus."

Kyouka stuttered and stammered, unable to speak, and red as a tomato. Hearing such charged words, Midnight snapped out of her daze and managed to regain her composure.

"Like I was saying," the R-Rated Heroine's announced, her honeyed tone enough to regain the audience's attention, "The rules are as I stated earlier. With a few additions of course."

The gathered students looked at the salacious ravenette in expectant fear. Oh how she loved the looks on their faces.

"Each team is gunning for the headbands of the other teams," Midnight said, explaining everything plainly so no one could miss how this event was meant to showcase teamwork. "Losing your headband does not disqualify you. Teams can keep fighting until time is up if they want to. The only way to be knocked out is if your team comes apart or the rider hits the ground."

While previously the 18+ Only Heroine had smiled through her announcement, now the seductive grin fell, leaving the woman normally the wet dream of every teenage male, and some females, in Japan looking quite menacing.

"And while Quirk use is free reign during the battle…" the edge alone in Midnight's voice could cut glass and freeze blood. "The intentional tripping or harming of other teams and competitors is STRICTLY forbidden. Crossing the line this time will carry far more intense consequences than lost points or disqualification. Trust me."

Glaring down at the flinching and shaking students, some even shifting their pants uncomfortably, gave the R-Rated Heroine an… inappropriate shiver down her spine. She'd been serious just then, but it was nice to know she could still affect the youth like that. She still had it!

Switching to a more cheerful disposition, Midnight twirled around and snapped her whip down.

"And now! Let the Cavalry Battle… BEGIN!"

The moment those words shot into the air, it became painfully clear what the general mentality of almost every team was.

"Quickly!" Todoroki shouted, ordering his team forward, "We have to get to Midoriya first!"

Initially confused, since Jiro was the rider with the ten million headband, Iida and the others quickly understood what their captain meant and moved to attack their verdant classmate's team. At least, they hoped they understood what the heterochromatic had meant. Surely they wouldn't be commanded to aim for someone who didn't have a target on their head?

Todoroki's team wasn't the only one gunning for the ten million however. It seemed like almost every other paired up group of competitors was rushing toward the only guaranteed pass into the third event. Surely someone would be able to make off with the prize of prizes?

Especially since Jiro's team hadn't moved a single step.

Izuku took in the avalanche of students headed for his team, a small disappointed grin on his freckled face as he watched the greed flicker through their eyes. It was a pity all this effort would be for naught. Even at this distance, the predatory gleam from Todoroki's mismatched glare was unmistakable.

He'd noticed it while celebrating with his friends and girlfriend after the first event. Todoroki had appeared tense, angry with some unidentifiable figure. It had only gotten worse after losing his points so publically. And even after such humiliation, the heterochromatic hadn't asked or looked for any support, bottling up his emotions instead. To Izuku, whose mind had been turning over scenario after scenario from the moment they'd been told to make teams, there was only ever one eventual outcome.

The Son of Endeavor was about to do something drastically stupid.

Sure enough, Todoroki's right arm began to frost over as his team closed in.

"Kyouka, Fumikage," Izuku called out calmly, making sure to appear confident as his friends turned to lock eyes with him, "Now."

The freckled genius was willing to gamble. It wasn't like the end result of this competition mattered to him anymore anyway, though he would feel bad for the others not being able to show their abilities to the pros. But if his plan worked…

Dark Shadow seethed out of Fumikage's stomach and reared up, towering over the team of four like a giant, obsidian sentinel. Kyouka's jacks flew up and plugged into the eldritch Quirk entity's mass of darkness, the musician's already accelerated heartbeat causing high-frequency ripples immediately. The ripples quickened, faster and faster until—

Dark Shadow no longer felt the burning itch of light on its skin. Before it could get used to the not-feeling, an overflowing well inside of the Quirk being suddenly shot to the surface.

"I am Vengeance!" the shadow beast proclaimed, raising its arms high into the air toward an enemy that could no longer touch it. "I am the Night! I. Am. THE DARK SHADOW!"

And the Quirk entity exploded into a roiling shroud of darkness.

At that exact moment, Todoroki made his move. Forcing his Quirk through his now bare foot, freezing Ochako along the way, the heterochromatic pushed hard and formed a dome of ice. As the creation closed up above them, the mismatched teen glared ferociously as he and the Emerald Necromancer were trapped inside. Together.

Then Todoroki saw the dome of darkness where his target should have been.

Team Todoroki hit the breaks.

"AHH! C-C-C-C-OLD! C-C-C-COLD!"

The sudden shriek from Uraraka snapped Todoroki's focus back to his team. Only then did the heterochromatic see that his move had iced over the brunette's entire torso and left side.

"Todoroki-san!" Iida boomed, voice overly loud in the enclosed space the team of four found themselves in. "How could you be so reckless?! You almost froze your own teammate with that attack! Uraraka-san, are you alright?!"

"Guys? What the hell is that?!"

Ojiro, far from being concerned with what was going on with his classmates, was instead fixated on the black dome writhing before his eyes. As if the nightmarish image couldn't get any worse, a massive pair of burning yellow eyes opened across the front of the shadowy hemisphere.

"Is that… Tokoyami?" The tailed teen asked in disbelief.

"S-s-since when w-was D-D-D-Dark Sh-shadow that p-p-powerful?" Uraraka asked, still shivering from the frost coating her. The brunette didn't like the looks of the dome. It didn't look like something they should mess with.

"He must've been hiding his true strength this entire time…" Ojiro guessed angrily.

"Don't stop!" Todoroki suddenly commanded, deciding that nothing would stop him, unexpected or not. "I need that headband!"

There was a moment of dead silence as three pairs of eyes turned to look up at the team captain with what could only be described as a prelude to mutiny.

"OH YEAH! WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS!"

Present Mic's enhanced voice boomed through the stadium, penetrating through even the dome of ice Todoroki had created. Looking around, the team of four realized they could see drones flying around inside their icy prison. The game was still on, and they were being watched by teachers and the public alike.

"While no one can fault having such initiative, charging headlong into an unknown situation without regard to the strengths or abilities of the targets present was a horrendously irrational oversight. At least one of the students inside that dome is known for their tremendous tactical mind and no one took that into consideration."

Eraserhead's commentary was enough to sober the heterochromatic teen, while his team on the other hand only looked more upset.

"WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT WE'D SEE A DOME WITHIN A DOME WITHIN A—"

SLAP!

"Don't you dare…"

As the two longtime friends and Pro-Heroes continued their color commentary and narrated the events going on outside the ice dome, Todoroki tried to think of a solution to the predicament he now found himself in.

If only he'd taken Kaminari instead of a guy with a useless tail.

All he needed to do was pierce that shadow once and he could freeze everything inside of it.

If only he'd been fast enough to grab the blonde before someone else had snatched him.

Todoroki's eyes widened as an idea sparked across his roiling thoughts.

"Iida! Push your engine to full power!" The mismatched teen shouted, pointing ahead as if to lead the charge. "The flames you exhaust will weaken their defenses. Then I'll take them out."

Below the heterochromatic second guesses were exchanged.

For Tenya Iida, he knew more about what was being asked of him than his captain did, and frankly, the apathetic way he and his fellow team members were being led rankled him. 'Recipro Burst' took everything he had, and afterwards he'd be useless until his stalled engines cooled down. They'd be stuck, and Todoroki didn't seem capable of understanding that even if they managed to break through Dark Shadow, they'd still have to face off against the entirety of Jiro's team at less than full strength.

Ochaco Uraraka was beyond upset. She'd teamed up with Tenya, of course, and the two had thought they'd hit the jackpot when the bespectacled teen had talked Todoroki into taking them on in a 'both-or-neither' deal. But then their dual-colored classmate had seemed to become obsessed with attacking Midoriya, and while the brunette might've had her own issues with the green-haired teen, she didn't ever want to hurt him. And then Todoroki had almost frozen her! Who did that to their own teammate?

Ojiro was pissed. He's somehow managed to get on board with the heaviest hitter his class had and yet he still found himself in a shitty situation. If he'd known Todoroki was dead set on taking the necromancer down he'd have left him to it and found another team. Even as late as it'd been, the tailed teen was sure he could've found at least one other team that would've liked a third member. At this rate…

"We won't have enough time if that doesn't work," Ojiro blurted out. Realizing he was right, the tailed teen pushed on before anyone could interrupt him. "The better option is to leave them alone and go after other teams while we can."

There was a moment of silence.

"I… I agree with you Ojiro-san," Iida said after thinking the words over. "We don't know what else they have ready behind Dark Shadow. And as Aizawa-sensei just said, charging in blindly is the height of irrationality."

"I v-v-v-v-vote f-for the w-w-warm sunlight," Uraraka said, raising a shivering arm in agreement.

White hot anger. That was all Todoroki could feel at that moment. He needed to beat Midoriya, and right as victory was at his fingertips, he was facing a mutiny?! What was this, the Pequod?!

"What are you doing?!" Todoroki spat, glaring down at his horses. They weren't going to get in his way, not when he was so close. "Iida! Engines! Now!"

As long as he didn't touch the ground, and his horses stayed together, nothing in the rules said that a team had to be mobile. Right? So he'd just freeze everyone after they broke through Midoriya's defenses.

He could apologize later.

Before Todoroki could think more on his new plan, he felt himself grow weightless. Looking down, the heterochromatic saw that Uraraka had touched the entire team, stealing their gravity away. In the next breath, Iida had powered up his engines.

For a brief moment, the mismatched teen thought his horses had had a change of heart. They'd seen he was right and were going to charge Midoriya and his team like he'd planned.

And then Iida turned and raced the team toward the closest wall of his ice dome without a second to spare.

Kicking into third gear, the speedster lunged forward with a powerful kick. At the last possible second, Uraraka released her Quirk on her mad captain and the bespectacled teen now leading her team. The return of their weight gave Iida enough power to crash through the ice dome without any problems.

As the light of the sun hit him, Todoroki felt himself slip into complete and utter shock.

They'd ignored him.

They'd followed their own plan.

They'd mutinied against him.

The world faded into a blurry fuzz of dim noise and blobs of fast moving color. Time lost all meaning to the mismatched teen.

He didn't notice as his gravity disappeared again.

He didn't notice as he was thrown back and forth as Iida sped the team here and there in a race against time.

He didn't notice as headband after headband was tossed over his head.

None of it penetrated the fog that had settled over Todoroki like a miasma.

And then it was over.

BBUUUUUUUURRRRRRR!

The buzzer signaling the end of the cavalry battle rang out. From the darkness inside himself, Todoroki floated back into consciousness enough to realized the cold, hard truth.

He'd failed again.

His wall had become a mountain.

And no one was going to help him tear it down.

As quickly as possible, the team below the mismatched teen disbanded, heading away from the captain they'd turned against double time.

At the other end of the stadium arena, Dark Shadow uncoiled and shrunk, revealing Jiro's team smiling and waving to a discontented audience upset their main attraction had hidden itself away. In contrast, Izuku and his friends felt like celebrating, they were completely rested and unfazed after what could've been a trying and tiring event.

"And it's over folks!" Midnight exclaimed, earning only halfhearted cheers from the upset audience, "Let's take a look at the final scores! Who's moving on to round three? Who came out on top of the competition?"

The already upset civilians in the stands groaned at more of the R-Rated Heroine's innuendo. Even so, they all looked up as the jumbo-sized score board morphed to show which teams placed where.

The 'Monster of UA's team had remained in first place of course, having hidden behind an impenetrable defense only exacerbated by the Son of Endeavor's ill-advised defensive trap. After apparently giving up on achieving first place, the Son of the Number Two Hero's team had burst from their icy dome and worked like mad to take every headband they could. They'd kept second place by a comfortable margin.

The crowd's mood started to brighten as they saw that the young Yaoyorozu heiress had managed to claim third place. At least someone was keeping with the way things were supposed to be. A pedigree like hers almost assured such a performance from the raven-haired girl, although not many could remember watching the girl enough to see how she'd done it.

The fact that both events so far had been dominated by the antithesis of their ideals overshadowed much of the audience's praise. Something in the air just felt… sinister.

Remote Monitoring Room C, Oversight of Scores and Student Performance…

"Sir, as much as I agree with you, I can't do that."

The current security advisor of UA, Haruno, spoke into her cellphone with hushed tones and worried glances. This was the last thing the middle-aged woman wanted to be doing right now, but it wasn't her choice to make was it?

"Yes sir, I understand," the pinkette said, probably for the tenth time by now, "You put a lot of money into making this festival possible, it's only reasonable that the competitor you've taken a shine to gets an opportunity to shine."

While those plebeians down below were surprised by the unexpected series of events unfolding today, certain people of import were becoming furious. Behind closed doors, away from prying and furry ears, threats had been made and words had been spoken. It boiled down to one simple fact. Even though it was tradition that the First Year Champion be a temporary poster boy for UA's top sponsors, tradition or not, no mutant freak or dark radical would ever be allowed to be the banner carrier for these support companies.

"Don't worry madam," Haruno replied to another caller also on the line, confidence bleeding through her worry, "Only the best will shine in the third event. I guarantee you'll see only the most promising future heroes at the top.

Once the line was cut, the pinkette sighed a weary breath of relief.

"I hope that promise of yours only meant what it should, Haruno-san?"

"AAAAHHH!"

UA's security advisor screamed like a little girl at the unexpected question… and the unwelcome presence it came from.

For once, Principal Nezu didn't look or sound like a cute and amicable little dog-rat-bear-thing. In fact the Quirked animal looked positively feral with barely contained rage.

"O-Of course!" Haruno choked out through her fear, "I was just reassuring a few of our worried sponsors! They were concerned that the tournament wouldn't bring out the best in our students the way things were going."

Suddenly, the pinkette felt an unholy level of dread grip her soul in a vice. The middle-aged woman couldn't move, could hardly breath. What was going on?!

"Oh?" Shivers ran down the security advisor's spine at the new, feminine voice—A voice that whispered right next to her ear. "You do know that being caught tampering with an event like UA's Sports Festival would result in far worse than being pinned for losing a sponsor or two… right?"

Haruno swallowed, tried to swallow. She couldn't get her body to listen to her. It felt like every muscle she had was locked tighter than a virgin's chastity belt.

"W-w-who a-a-are y-you?!" Haruno stuttered out, abruptly aware she needed to keep her quivering bladder in check.

The sultry chuckle that answered did nothing to alleviate any of the pinkette's soul-breaking dread.

"Trust me honey, you don't want to know," the unknown woman whispering into Haruno's ear said as she stepped forward and went to sit in one of the various chairs littering the small room, black suit pristine. The terrifying stranger calmly held up a steaming mug of coffee and took a sip. "But you will soon, if you're planning on doing what I know you are."

Haruno tried to focus on the woman sitting before her, but for some reason her eyes just wouldn't remain still. Every time the pinkette's jade-green eyes landed on the interloper they'd slide off of their own accord. It was maddening, and only added to her terror.

A moment of silence passed. The security advisor, feeling control of her limbs suddenly return to her, fled the room as fast as she could.

"Oh no. Stop," The suited woman drawled, not at all concerned that her prey had run. Nezu glanced at the spook beside him in puzzlement. "Run as fast as you want, you won't be able to stop him. You'll only make things so much worse."

Back in the Stadium…

After Midnight had cleared out the disqualified students from the arena, those left had mingled in high spirits. One particular green-haired necromancer felt as if he'd already won the whole festival.

"I never thought we'd make it this far," Izuku murmured, earning chuckles from those close to him, "Like the old time heroes used to say right? 'United we can do anything.'"

From beside the verdanette, Fumikage clapped a hand on his shoulder, a slight grin on his beak.

"Together with our sunlit stars, we'll proclaim the power of Darkness for all to see!" The avian teen declared loudly, returning to his theatrics. "Tis their folly for considering our combined might so easily overcome!"

Usually not one to openly begin conflict, Fumikage couldn't help but direct that last bit solely at a fuming Todoroki, who seemed a hair's breadth from marching over to Izuku.

As the group of friends laughed, an unexpected someone hesitantly walked up to them unseen. Or, more specifically, walked up to Izuku in particular.

"Ehmm…"

Chattering amongst themselves, Izuku and his friends had no chance of hearing the gently murmured sound.

"Uhm… Mi-Midori…"

The speaker, a tiny brunette whose eyes were covered by her overly long bangs, held herself behind the fringe of the group of 1-A students, too shy to articulate a single word and too small to be seen. Realizing she was going to miss her chance if she didn't 'go beyond,' the diminutive girl suddenly clenched her fists as determination flooded her petite frame.

She'd waited nearly a decade for this!

"IZU-KUN!"

Izuku and his friends froze, falling silent at the unexpected shout. The young hero-in-question glanced at his girlfriend, confirming she hadn't been the one to use his pet name. Turning toward the source of the cry, he nearly stumbled back as a brown, elfin-sized missile came barreling at him, stopping just short of tackling him.

"Uh…?" What could Izuku say? He didn't even know how to describe this development.

"I… I know you may not remember me. B-but…" For a split second, Kinoko Komori felt the unpleasant urge to run away and hide, but with untapped inner steel the brunette managed to stomp the cowardly feeling down. She really needed to do this. "A long time ago, I let my fear keep me from talking to you. I was a coward be-because… a-after he… w-w-what they… a-a-and then, even when—"

Kinoko felt the familiar sting in her eyes as she fell closer and closer to losing the battle against her tears. She began to curl inward, bowing her head in shame.

She'd wanted to be strong, but the trauma of that painful day in kindergarten had once again risen up to pull her down. First losing the first boy who'd ever thought her Quirk wasn't creepy, who'd been friendly to her, and then years of berating herself for letting others decide who she could be friends with… it was too much. Her therapy hadn't helped at all! She was still the weak little fungus girl, just like that blond had said.

The tears threatened to fall, and Kinoko knew she was about to break out into full-on bawling any second—

"I do."

Kinoko gasped, shocked out of her downward spiral by two simple words. Snapping her head up, the brunette's unique brown eyes locked on to the gentle gaze of Izuku Midoriya.

"I may not have ever known your name," the kind verdanette continued, "But I remember you. It really is a shame we couldn't have been friends back then, but I wasn't nearly strong enough to protect you."

Tears of a different sort spilled openly down the mushroom girl's cheeks. A watery smile began to grow as a warm feeling ignited in her chest.

"I know what it's like to keep everything bottled up," Izuku asserted, nodding self-deprecatingly, "It's harder than anyone can know. And I didn't help things at all back when we first met again weeks ago… I'm sorry I didn't recognize you until recently…"

Izuku scratched the back of his head, ashamed to know that he'd only connected the dots of who Komori was after he'd already pulled the trigger while looking at her through the scope of a sniper rifle.

The young hero-in-training tenderly raised a hand to the now shaking brunette standing before him.

"But, if you're willing, I'd like to try and be friends again."

The verdanette had recognized something in those russet eyes, as he'd stared into them through the scope's lense, a hunger he knew all too well. The girl he could just barely remember from all those years ago held a burning need for true friendship, even as she was paradoxically too scared to let someone in to resonate with her heart. It was a desire and fear knotted into one agonizing mish-mash of emotional turmoil.

Like he'd said, he'd been there before… for quite some time.

"OH YES!" Kinoko shouted, eyes glistening with happiness and joy and deeply buried fears laid to rest. "I WOULD I WOULD!"

Then the mushroom girl darted forward and glomped her new friend. Wrapping around him like a koala bear, the brunette gave him a merry kiss on the cheek before darting away and running off.

"Rieko!" Izuku and his friends could hear faintly as Kinoko passed into a tunnel gateway up to the 1-B stands, "I did it! And HE SAID YES!"

Brain abruptly short-circuited, Izuku could only lightly touch his recently assaulted cheek. On one hand, the verdanette was happy that he'd finally been able to recover a long-lost friend. On the other… Tsu-chan…

Already feeling a penetrating stare digging into his back, and completely unsure of what to say, Izuku swallowed as he turned to face the music… and ended up staring into the serious eyes of Kyouka Jiro.

"Since it looks like today is 'Thank Izuku Day'…" the musician said, grabbing Izuku by the collar and hauling him close. When there were only a few inches between the two's faces, the punk rock girl… leaned forward and pecked the verdanette's other cheek! "That's for saving some random girl you didn't even know from being stabbed years ago."

Izuku pulled back, eyes blowing wide in shock.

"That was you?!" The flabbergasted young hero-in-training asked, unable to even stutter.

"I know I should've said something sooner but… you know…" Kyouka stepped back, rubbing one arm bashfully, "I guess even I get girly nerves sometimes…"

With her piece said, the violette turned and faced the raven-headed teen beside her, gaze expectant. For his part, Fumikage didn't look bothered by what had just happened in the least.

"There," Kyouka drawled, arms crossing, "We can be a thing now, officially. Just… don't expect me to be some frilly princess, alright?"

Fumikage shrugged, still unflappable.

"Why wouldst I seek a princess when you, a Queen, hast deigned to allow me your presence?"

While Kyouka dealt with all the blood that was rushing to her face at her now boyfriend's words, it finally registered to Izuku that he'd just been kissed not once, but twice. Nervous, the verdanette turned to see how Tsuyu had taken the events that had just unfolded. Even if he'd done nothing himself, the young necromancer expected at least a slap and maybe a dressing down.

Instead, Izuku felt a pair of larger than normal hands gently caress his cheeks.

"For the most heroic boyfriend in the world," Tsuyu said, right before she pulled said boyfriend down and initiated a sloppy French hiss.

It wasn't that the frog-girl wasn't jealous, it'd be a lie if Tsuyu said she hadn't felt a burning in her gut when she'd seen her Izu be kissed by someone other than her, but when it came down to it, she knew her boyfriend needed confirmation that his actions were heroic and deserving of praise, not yelling and blame-laying.

The collective sound of hundreds if not thousands of cat-calls, whistles, and people gushing at the open display of affection belatedly registered with the frog-girl, and she hastily broke the kiss as she only then remembered that they weren't just in a full sports stadium, but also being televised for the entire nation, and much of the world, to see.

Oh boy…

"Tsu-chan…" Izuku breathed, overwhelmed by the love he'd felt his girlfriend pushing into him from that kiss…

"Marry me…"

The reverberating echo of his declaration, amplified by every single speaker in the stadium, snapped Izuku back to reality. Looking down, the verdanette saw a microphone under his chin. Following the hand holding the device to its owner, the grinning face of Midnight met his panicked gaze. The R-Rated Heroine gave a thumbs-up as she sashayed away, doing nothing for her now positively mortified student, who was now glowing red.

The audience meanwhile exploded into cheers, roaring in agreement with the daring words spoken by the teenage hero-wannabe who was, right now, at the top of the First Year Tournament.

Needless to say, two mothers were currently doing a celebratory dance at the shorter one's home, much to the puzzlement of a pair of tadpoles.

[REDACTED], [REDACTED] Bar…

"That was certainly… daring," the deep voice of Kurogiri echoed in the mostly empty bar, speaking to no one in particular. The dark-mist villain recognized the special type of bravery it took for anyone to utter such words. Seeing a proposal like that niggled at something in the back of barkeep's mind.

"It also explains why the twerp risked so much to save the little froggy back then…" Shigaraki muttered sourly, recalling what had happened back at the USJ. The green brat had blasted him with a goddamn shotgun! And now he knew it hadn't been some foolish act of heroic valor.

It had been personal.

"I guess we'll just have to include the little tadpole in our plans now," Shigaraki rasped, a wide psychotic grin stretching his dry face. Knowing that the tools to destroy the world of heroes were now laid out before him had the young villain almost euphoric. But… he knew he had to be patient. Rushing now would only get him in trouble. In more ways than one.

But now things were fun again! What had once been a broken action-adventure game had suddenly gotten new DLC and become an old-school RPG. And if there was one thing Tomura Shigaraki knew, it was how to beat an RPG.

All he'd have to do is plan carefully; he was playing on 'Ironman Mode' after all.

The white-haired twenty year old was so involved in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice as his babysitter froze and tensed up, a wispy hand flying to his head. Completely ignored, Kurogiri fumbled with a pocket on his vest until he was able to pull out an old battered pill bottle.

With shaking hands, the villain of dark mists and portals downed a single pitch-black pill from the bottle. Pocketing the medicine, Kurogiri returned to his bar and grabbed a glass to clean.

And while he twirled the cleaning rag around and around, the echoing shouts and sounds of falling rock faded from his mind.


Magnus: Yes, the tournament is next. No, it won't follow canon.

The_0bservanc3: Hey all! So with everything going on right now, we realize that times are tough for everyone. For that reason, Magnus and I have decided to open our services to you all via the wonderful site of P-A-T-R-E-O-N. Just go to the site and add "thewriterstwo" after the "/" in the URL.


Omake – Woes of a Gentle Giant

'How did it end up like this?' Mezo Shouji thought to himself as he watched his… friend…? in slight concern.

"So, which one do you think makes me look better?" asked Toru Hagakure as the invisible girl held up two dresses. One was frilly with a flower print on it while the other was checkered with red and white boxes.

Mezo did his best not to sigh. While the combined human and animal extremities on his tentacles did give him the ability to see his friend after a fashion, he hadn't known admitting to such would get him sucked into hours of shopping. The giant tried not to complain however… this might've been the first time Hagakure had ever had someone who'd actually seen her help her buy clothes.

"Checkered suits you better," Mezo answered calmly and measured, basing his answer on simple knowledge of color and shape composition rather than any vaunted 'fashion sense.'

What? He'd said he understood where his friend was coming from, not that he understood shopping.

At least enjoying painting had turned out to help him in certainly unforeseeable ways.

'Now if only I could understand why she seeks my opinion so ardently,' the gentle giant thought, his mind returning to the circle it'd spiraled for hours now. 'It's not like I'm her boyfriend. Do friends really take each other's words so seriously?'

As always, Mezo could only conclude that all of this had come about because he could 'see' his friend. That fact naturally had led to the belief that Hagakure must've felt less lonely with him by her side. It was a key part of the reason he hadn't pushed her away. Although, the invisible girl hadn't exactly been pushy or demanding so far; outings such as this would only happen if he freely admitted that he was available and willing.

"Really?" Toru asked in something that might've been surprise. Shifting her weight to one side, it was obvious that the transparent girl had grown pensive, visible or not. "Okay then. Just let me try it on first. You know, in case the measurements are… wrong."

Mezo merely nodded at the words, they were sensible and they hadn't been at this particular store too long. Honestly, the gentle giant was grateful that shopping with Toru wasn't the dreaded nightmarish marathon he'd overheard other boys describe.

But this wasn't a date. They were not dating. So of course it was different.

"Mezo-kun, since we're here, was there anything you wanted to check out?" Toru asked from behind the changing curtain. The invisible girl's words were calm and honestly inquisitive, nothing like the accelerated and energetic flurry she used when with Ashido.

"Now that you mention it, I may have to get a new calligraphy brush," Mezo agreed, feeling odd at being shown such consideration. "Hopefully I'll be able to find an inkwell too."

'I guess I'll just have to learn to accept that I have a… female friend… now,' Mezo wasn't sure how he felt about that thought, only that he felt a sort of warmth from knowing for the first time someone had actually remembered and asked after one of his hobbies. 'It's too bad she's invisible to everyone else. She's kind of cute like this.'

Being around the transparent girl so much recently had given the gentle giant an unexpected revelation; Toru often times pushed herself to act a certain way to be noticed or accepted. That wasn't to say she faked her personality. Mezo had been smart enough to see that his friend wasn't that kind of person at least.

It was just that, on the first day of the semester, seeing how popular Ashido had been had made her Hagakure's goal to match. A visible mirror, as it were, to copy so others would pay attention to her instead of forget she was there. And for the most part it'd worked, the invisible girl had made friends with most of her classmates within a day.

But around him, Mezo knew that his friend could be more of herself, feel free to openly disagree with him, and pursue similar interests without coming off in a bad way. Hagakure still liked to laugh, but understood that he liked his quiet too. Likewise, while he enjoyed his studies and spending time indoors, he knew that the invisible girl loved walking under the stars and the breeze in her face.

The changing booth opened.

To the world, a floating dress stepped out and hovered toward the gentle giant, hips swinging just a tad more than normal.

"Does it look good?" Toru asked, giving a slow spin to show off all her angles. "I mean, I don't feel like it's too tight, but I also don't want it to look loose, you know?"

Mezo didn't know, but he looked at his friend anyway. Up, down, left, right. The gentle giant couldn't find any problems with the dress.

"Looks good," Mezo replied, short but well intentioned.

By how Hagakure clapped, the invisible girl had read him right once again.

"Thanks!" Toru's natural cheerfulness shone through as her voice pitched up. But then the invisible girl began to fidget, the fluttery sleeves of the dress dropping down loosely. "There's just one last little thing I need your help with. Don't worry, you can check it out right now, no need to wait."

Mezo chuckled, he'd heard that before.

"Alright, what is it?"

A bystander might've thought the gentle giant had finally reached his last nerve, but he knew Hagakure knew better. Accordingly, the invisible girl proceeded to show him what she wanted to.

"Here," Toru said, lifting up the front of her dress.

In front of Mezo.

In clear view of the rest of the mall.

"What do you think?" Toru asked in a completely innocent tone, "Not using panties looks a lot less perverted than if I wore them right?"

Mezo didn't say a word, his natural eyes staring down at the space under the raised fabric.

"I mean, no one can see anything," Toru added, swaying her hips. "If I wore panties, or even bloomers, well… some lucky perv might be able to see the shape of my… you know… if there was an accident."

Apparently satisfied with her own reasoning, and lack of reaction from her companion, Toru dropped the edges of her dress she'd been holding and went back behind the changing booth's curtain.

Alone again, Mezo raised a tentacle and wiped the bead of blood that had almost dripped out of the nose he'd grown there. The gentle giant finally admitted it to himself. He needed help. But who in his class had enough experience with girls to even provide that kind of assistance?

More importantly, should he tell Hagakure that he'd had his special sight activated this entire time?